Tomorrow: special election day, Incorporation of Mastic Beach

Mastic Beach residents: don't forget--tomorrow is the day we vote on whether or not to incorporate Mastic Beach as a village. By now you should have heard all the good and factual arguments for and against, and you've probably heard a lot of rumours, tales, fibs, battles-that-should-have-been-left-in-the-schoolyard-fifty-years-ago and downright lies.

Make up your own mind... and make your voice heard. Don't forget to vote!

12 pm until 9 pm at Mastic Beach Fire Department on Neighborhood Road.

Mastic Beach wildlife

Egrets little and large, herons (giant blue and small ones that perch in trees), glossy ibis, plovers (piping and otherwise), american oystercatchers, bluejays that are more grey than blue, woodpeckers, mockingbirds, catbirds, starlings that paint the sky, seagulls that sit on lamposts and giggle/cackle at you in the dark, horseshoe crabs, snapping turtles, blue-clawed crabs, ospreys, rumours of bald eagles, smaller raptors, american robins, raccoons!, white-tail deer with mouths full of hostas, black squirrels, grey squirrels, eastern screetch owls...

Reeds that rustle in the breeze and moonrise over the bay.

Would you enjoy living amongst all these?  http://by.ly/jsql

Almost-full tonight

Sky-writing

There are a miilion or so starlings swirling around my back yard: resting in the trees for a moment or two, then taking off in a giant cloud. I catch them out of the corner of my eye, and the pattern they make seems to be forming words... almost, not quite... and then it breaks up and they form a swirl, a wave, a breeze of birds.

And every so often, they sit on the electric lines like music.

The street below is stained red: tree-berry poop!

Those colours which don't work together? Green pink turquoise and purple?

Sometimes they do.

Might as well go fishing....

(Soundtrack: Chris Rea.)

Misty, moist morning... silent bay, cicada song

Mosquitos? Get martens! (Purple, house, whichever you can!)

Noticed that a lot of visitors end up on this blog, searching for anti-mosquito devices. The best one I have is lodged above the light on the front of the house, just below the gutter. Looks like a large wasps' nest from the street... it's not, it's a marten's home, and they have been happily producing baby martens. And they all spend their days and evenings feasting on mozzies. Brilliant!

HGTV Facebook and my view...

HGTV have been showcasing "rooms with a view" on Facebook recently... and today they posted my view!

Click here to see the pic and all the hundreds of comments!

Thank you everyone who commented: and to address some of them:

- if you look out of the south-facing window (the one in the right corner), you'll see a lot of water--the Great South Bay--otherwise just wait for high tide and you'll see more
- yes I should have straightened the curtain pole/removed dream catcher/removed air freshener before taking the pic, but that's the good thing about digital cameras, you can take another shot when you realise your mistake... in this case after I'd uploaded it ;-)
- the curtains look better replaced with white sheers but I can't be bothered changing them every night, so the practical ones stay for now
- yes, we do have mosquitos during some of the summer: we also have herons, egrets, ibis and host of other birds and animals, and we don't have traffic noise or lots of sirens... some you win, some you lose.

Wonderful seeing so many people have heard the name of Mastic Beach today!

Black and blue. And red.

Black-and-blue salvia in the little garden next to the shed. Really really blue, on long stems, above lime-green leaves. Mixed in with lemon balm and annual mini basil. Deer won't eat these unless they are really, really, really hungry and they've already devoured all the hostas. So they're probably safe for a couple more weeks. Maybe.

A humming bird was feeding from them this morning!

 Purplish-blue salvia in the front yard, with some "volunteer" blue flax mixed in. Apparently flax was farmed years ago on the William Floyd Estate--it was their main crop--and it still "crops up" all over the place each summer. It's beautiful.

 The front yard is a mass of different colour salvia.  The chrysanthemums are swelling, preparing for their showtime. The irises are spreading and this year's babies are growing strong--next year's spring iris show should be spectacular! This area of the garden does get soggy in winter and spring, so the Japanese iris love their place.

 Fireman red salvia.

Good news and bad news

Good news: I was sad when one of my neighbours told me that "the dogs had got" the baby twin deer. As I'm never sure if he is talking about the past, present, future or some random dream sequence, I was hoping he was wrong (and which "dogs"???). The good news is that he was wrong.

Bad news: he was wrong, they are fine and they roused me from pre-caffeine stupor this morning, by loudly crunching hosta leaves. Mother and twin babies, another mother and one baby bambi. No dogs. Just deer.

Smilebox blog-of-the-week!

The Smilebox team has named my blog, "blog of the week"!  (I'm using Smilebox for the presentations and slideshows that you see here.)

Credits where credit is due:

- Richard Peikoff for the music on the presentation that Smilebox shows on the blog-of-the-week page (you can find him on Facebook and MySpace, too).
- Mastic Beach for the scenery, seasons, water and wildlife

And check out Sparrow Realty for homes in this area, whether year round or vacation/weekend.

Thank you, Smilebox!

All about my house-for-sale!

Click here to see the brochure

Click here to see the virtual tour

Click here to see the full listing details for this house

MLS # 2315270

Listing agent is homeowner.

Ibiseeingyou

Amazing birds with their curving beaks. There are more this year than any other year I have been here. Up close, they shine green.

I was awake and up really early this morning, but was certainly not the first.

Heron-imus

Big bird convention

Home is for sale!

Don't be surprised when you see the Sparrow Realty sign outside my home this week!

Last week, I finished working on the garage--the last room in the house to be renovated. And I decided that I need a new project. I'm really happy with the way the house turned out, and the garden with all its plantings and "outdoor rooms", whether it's the rose garden or the sunning deck or the tomato grove, the reading patio or the woodland hideaway... but it's time to move on to the next one!

(Maybe I should become a Bedouin, and live in a beautiful tent that I can pack onto my camel's back and move to vistas new every few days?)

If you know anyone who would like to live in a waterview paradise, please point them in the right direction.

For more information, see: http://c21sparrow.com/details_general.asp?id=19893837

There will be an open house on Sunday! 8th August, 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.